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Moonflower Productions -VA- Grand Avenue
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Suspekt
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
64
Posts :
563
Posted : Oct 10, 2005 11:33
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Label: Moonflower, Sweden
Compilation Title: Grand Avenue
Tracks:
1. Chris Poindexter - My Baby
2. Son Kite - Gazing at the Sun
3. Kalimax - Where is the Party?
4. Tegma - Needafix
5. Ticon - We are the Mammoth Hunters (2005 Live edit)
6. Human Blue - Woup
7. Perfect Stranger - Its all About
8. Cybertronic - Let Feel You
9. James Benitez - Not Over Yet (Parham and Plaza Rmx)
Moonflower Productions have been responsible for many quality tech-trance releases in the past few years, with compilations like “Electroscopic” affirming their place as one of the leaders in this genre. Their new compilation “Grand Avenue” is a step into more progressive directions- showing the other side of this popular Swedish label. Compiled by Tony Comanti, Grand Avenue is an excursion into big beat progressive house and trance; with the smooth sound of Sweden woven into the fabric of the music (even though not all artists featured are Swedish). Industry heavyweights Son Kite, Tegma, Ticon, Chris Poindexter, Parham and Plaza and Perfect Stranger might give some suggestion to the flavour of this cd; definitely made to please the home listener and the DJ at the same time.
The compilation begins with Chris Poindexter’s “My Baby”. A big club influenced progressive house groove. Groovy Rhythms and big old school acid lines. This one will get high rotation in a few genres and scenes I think. Next up are the masterful Son Kite, with their track “Gazing at the Sun”. Electrobass over powerful daytime melodies with the classic Son Kite break downs and build ups. Definitely suited to a more indoor vibe some other Son Kite, although the track wouldn’t go astray on a Sunday arvo in the bush either. Wiiickid.
New act Kalimax continue the comp in slick style with “Where is the party?”. I really liked their track on the new Tribal Visions too, deep and groovy progressive trance. Intelligent melody work with lovely bass and rhythms, saw it ripping out of 50 000 watts last week when my friend played it out and it sounded soooo huge. Wickid stuff…. One of the highlights of the compilation for me. Tegma move the CD into more driving psygressive territory, picking up the pace and power a bit.. I’d have to say the latest 2 Tegma compilation releases fully restored my faith in these guys, I was beginning to doubt their direction after their last album. But this and Tribal Vision made it all good again- driving dance floor morning progressive for when the dust is rising. I-needa-fix, I-needa-fix…
Ticon return to the fray with the track of the CD- their 2005 Live reworking of “We are the Mammoth Hunters”. I had the opportunity to play this lately, and it was one of the biggest tracks in my set (if not the biggest!). My friend was asleep and he told me he awoke to the sound of a mammoth, haha! Siiick. This was one of my favourite tunes of all time, and it’s just been giving the fattest working over since your mumma. Sweet. Human Blue continue to raise the levels of the compilation, with the flat bass and heavy squelchy sounds. These guys have always managed to retain some of the older-vibe of progressive, and it’s refreshing to see this sound hasn’t disappeared into history.
Perfect Stranger is one of the most interesting progressive acts ever to emerge from the land of Israel, with his older project BLT considered legendary and his new direction making good impressions and being released on super label Iboga. This is my personal favourite I’ve heard of his new project, commendable work for sure. Bouncy, dominant bass and funky sounds and rhythms with the big daytime sound of Israel woven in. Sweet stuff. Cybertronic are not someone I’ve had a chance to listen too much of their stuff, but I was surprised when I heard this one. Moving back more into housey territory, this track is a solid club groover. Nice pads and funky rhythms, with a very “future urban” feel. Nice work
Parham and Plaza are one of the best acts within the progressive house world today, and their remix of James Benitez’s “Not Over Yet” is a perfect end to a well compiled compilation. Smooth club house with that big Parham and Plaza bass that forces the hips to wiggle. A classy end to a classy comp.
Overall, Grand Avenue is a great first excursion into the progressive genre by the guys from Moonflower. Their sound is powerful and unique, definitely very characteristic- I think the sound of Sweden really comes through. Definitely a more indoor oriented compilation for me (apart from Tegma and Ticon), but definitely will go into high rotation for club djs in the next few months I think. Well done Tsekas and Tony on another great Moonflower release.
7/10
  Open Records, Australia
www.open-records.net |
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aNti-MattEr
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
27
Posted : Oct 10, 2005 11:56
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Very nice compilation. Found the Parham and Plaza remix a little slow to take off. Really like the Kalimax, Human Blue, Perfect Stranger, Ticon and Chris Pointdexter tunes the most. |
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kristyandmoe
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
224
Posted : Oct 11, 2005 00:28
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Really like this compilation but i am a big prog lover at the moment so probably no surprise there. I got it just because of the Human Blue track but like the whole album i must say.
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pr0fane
Multiphase
Started Topics :
418
Posts :
3816
Posted : Oct 15, 2005 21:04
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Artist: Various
Title: Grand Avenue - Compiled by Tony Comanti
Label: Moonflower Productions
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 4 page inlay)
Released: September, 2005
Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/mfp1cd003_b.jpg
Review:
After starting out as a tech-trance label in 2004 with the compilation "Nocturnal Imprints", containing artists like Tetraktys, Opsis, Triac and PPS Project, followed by "Nocturnal Imprints" in 2005, containing artists like Midi Miliz, Spirallianz, Cybered and Triac, the Swedish label recently released a new compilation containing tracks by artists from the more club-oriented progressive circles on the psytrance scene. The title of the compilation is "Grand Avenue", and even though you should never judge a book by its cover, I had no hesitations ordering the CD after its release, after simply having looked at the tracklist. I mean: new tracks by Son Kite, Ticon, Human Blue and Tegma - it can't possibly fail.
01. Chris Pointdexter - My Baby [132 BPM]
First track is by the Swedish producer Chris Poindexter, who made his mark on the progressive house/psytrance circles last year with releases on Spiral Trax and ACDC, the biggest hit being "Darkness", getting remixed by Ticon with huge success. "My Baby" is a quite clubby tune - catchy and with some nice, tight grooves, but unfortunately failing to really a impression. Decent track, yet nothing spectacular.
02. Son Kite - Gazing At The Sun [136 BPM]
Intruducing Son Kite, the biggest name on the progressive psytrance scene, seems kind of pointless. "Gazing At The Sun" is one of the few newer Son Kite tunes after they started to focus their work on the Minilogue sideproject, and it's definitely oozing with their sense of quality and putting together a good tune. Crystal clear trance, sprinkled with delightful sunny melodies, giving slight associations to Der Dritte Raums "Hale Bopp". Surely a highlight.
03. Kalimax - Where Is The Party [138 BPM]
Next tune is from the new Swedish duo Kalimax, consisting of Tony Comanti (one of the guys behind Moonflower) and Magnus Forsberg from the Swedish trance-portal mandarin.nu. "Where Is The Party" is pretty close to their track "Demons" on Tribal Visions last compilation - sweet, naive melodies, and generally a very pleasant morning touch. The production seems a bit muddy, (not really that strange, following a track by Son Kite), and the melodies are in my opinion too much in the background. Generally it's a very good track though, and I'll definitely look out for new Kalimax releases in the future.
04. Tegma - Needafix [136 BPM]
Tegmas contribution, "Needafix", is so far the most intense on the compilation, and is - like "No Time" from the latest Tribal Vision compilation - to be found somewhere between the style of the somewhat techish sound "Encoded/Decoded" and the more full on "002: Avant Garde". A relentlessly pounding dance floor track, embellished by a corny but quite pleasing repeated sample saying "I need a fix". Not highly interesting, but solid dance floor material.
05. Ticon - We Are The Mammuth Hunters (Live Mix 2005) [138 BPM]
Ticons 3rd album "zero six after" is getting released in a matter of weeks, and as a taster for the new sound we get a live mix of "We Are The Mammoth Hunters" from their first album "Rewind" - possibly one of their biggest hits to date. The new version isn't quite as raw and harsh as the original, but instead with some new layers of melodies, and a generally much more uplifting attitude. A really good remix - not exceptional, but certainly with unmistakable dance floor potential.
06. Human Blue - Woup [138 BPM]
Human Blue is up next, and "Woup" really shines as a flashback to the beginning of the Scandinavian progressive trance wave. On one hand starting very dark and gloomy, but on the other hand slowly adding more brighter elements, before climaxing in the last 4 minutes as a storming morning tune with some fine, almost epic, melodies. Great tune to put some oldschool feel into a progressive set.
07. Perfect Stranger - It's All About [136 BPM]
After more or less closing down his BLT project, Yuli Fershtat has continued his contribution to the scene with his Perfect Stranger project, so far releasing a couple of tracks on Iboga. He follows in the same path as on his earlier releases, generally keeping the atmosphere quite organic, using very distinct and somewhat funky tribal percussion, and adding some subtle Israeli melodic influences. Good, bouncy track for the outdoors.
08. Cybertronic - Let Feel You [136 BPM]
"Let Feel You" by the greek duo Cybertronic is one of the more unique tunes on the album, being a quite interesting crossover-tune. The sound is quite techtrance-like, very metallic and pumping, but also using some very traditional trancy pads, housey grooves and some quite clubby male vocals. It does sound pretty special, but I'm not sure what exactly to think of it really. Certainly not bad though.
09. James Benitez - Not Over Yet (Parham & Plaza Remix) [126 BPM]
Parham & Dominic Plaza finish the compilation with a remix of James Benitez's "Not Over Yet", released on Plastik Parks "Outsider" compilation earlier this year. I really like what P&P are doing at the moment, but this remix was slightly disappointing. Yes, the groove is solid, and the production is really good, but the deep atmosphere and the simple, melancholic melody from the original is all gone. Not bad in any way, but not as stunning as I had expected.
Bottom line:
With "Grand Avenue" Tony Comanti and the rest of the Moonflower crew prove that they are more than a techtrance label, and that they have a quite broad taste in the progressive spectrum. The compilation features a fine mix of the increasingly popular housey grooves, uplifting progressive trance, slightly oldschool progressive trance, a few techtrance influences, and the variety of sounds should assure that everyone should find something they like. There are no strictly bad tracks, yet some tracks are of course weaker than others - despite good production and some catchy grooves, Chris Pointdexters "My Baby" is probably my least favourite tune, while Son Kite once again shines as the highlight of a compilation, closely followed by the Human Blues flashback tune "Woup".
All in all 2005 brought us another solid progressive release, great work by Moonflower.
Favourites:
2 (!!), 3, 5, 6 (!!), 7
Verdict:
8/10
Link:
http://www.moonflower.se DJ pr0fane (Iboga Records) | Multiphase
www.sunrisesupplies.com | www.iboga.dk | www.soundcloud.com/pr0fane |
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Pavel
Moderator
Started Topics :
313
Posts :
8649
Posted : Oct 15, 2005 21:24
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Some really exceptionaly good tunes here. First Ticon's remix which is for me atleast THE tune of the summer. Also Perfect Stranger, Tegma, Human Blue and James Benitez with mega groovy tune. Definitely a must for prog lovers.
Now where's the mammoth?
Everyone in the world is doing something without me |
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Bakke
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
41
Posts :
319
Posted : Oct 27, 2005 20:31
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Nice compilation guys.. decent tracks in general.. favorite track is the 2005 live-mix of "Mammoth Hunters" ..the bassline says it all. 
Keep it up Fotis and Tony!
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http://www.myspace.com/bakkelit
http://www.echoes-records.com
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olivier
Side-A
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
1303
Posted : Oct 27, 2005 20:38
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mammoth hunters 2005 live mix is in my opinion ticon's best track since their rmx of chris pointdexter, awesome rythms and harmonies
parham & plaza rmx of james benitez is probably the heaviest track on this compilation, huge!
these are my 2 fav's
very nice compilation
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sophicos
Triac
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
161
Posted : Oct 28, 2005 22:34
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a great compilation by tony 
tracklist looked hot even when we didnt had it ..
very nice blend of tunes ! a must for the progressive / house genere lovers.
favs ; 1,2,5,7,9(!!!)
Check triacs myspace page for The next TRIAC LIVE - near you !
http://www.myspace.com/triacs
http://triac.isratrance.com
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ND
ProSect
Started Topics :
44
Posts :
919
Posted : Dec 24, 2005 14:39
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Grand Avenue
Moonflower Productions, 2005
Review Intro: The latest compilation from Moonflower Productions brings to us the hottest progressive titles, unlike their previous releases dealed with the more tech side of the PsyTrance. Let's see what the young but a promissing label got in store.
01. Chris Pointdexter - My Baby
First heard of this artist by his release on Spiral Trax, which was very shiny. The track has a very comfortable feeling, solid club groove with soft repeative melodies. Really enjoyed the summer feeling of this track.
8.5/10
02. Son Kite - Gazing At The Sun
Son Kite keep the summer vibe alive. What we got here is a soft percussion section, moving arpeggios and a shiny pads. Not the best Son Kite track, but definitely a worth to listen.
9/10
03. Kalimax - Where Is The Party
Very soft tune. The sounds seems to be in the backround which gives the tune more chilling atmosphere then dancing one. Something to relax to and release all your thoughts.
7/10
04. Tegma - Needafix
After our chill session comes the intensive groove round. Very solid synth sounds and a repeative vocal sample. I found this track more interesting then tracks on their latest album.
8/10
05. Ticon - We Are The Mammuth Hunters (Live Mix 2005)
Ticon is one of my favourite progressive acts. The live mix for one of their greatest songs played almoust everywhere this year. Useless to describe its amazing sounds and dancefloor mayhem that it can create.
9.5/10
06. Human Blue - Woup
One of my first introductions to Scandinavian sound was by Human Blue. This track develops really slow and by the end we got the famous Dag's phased synth lines, which are very of the old school type. Nothing to hype over, but not bad at all.
7/10
07. Perfect Stranger - It's All About
I really enjoyed the debut tracks of the not so new to the scene Perfect Stranger. What we got here is a synth chords plus the scratching sounds which followed by great percussion work and a very tech and minimal feel.
8/10
08. Cybertronic - Let Feel You
This track brought a drastic change on the cd. Very clubby, Ibiza feel. Moving straight forward with its steel sound. I guess I didn't connected to it, lacks some clearance.
6/10
09. James Benitez - Not Over Yet (Parham & Plaza Remix)
Very well produced groove, tingling sounds and a disco type of synth comes all the way through. Hypnotizing.
8/10
Review Outro: Very solid release, a good variety inside the progressive psychedelic sound. A CD that worth a buy for the progressive lovers.
Cover Art: 9/10
Sound: 8.5/10
Album Concept: 7/10
Overall Rating: 8/10
ND
www.prosectorium.com
Without Deviation, Progress Is Not Possible.
www.andivision.com
Sound Field / ProSect / Sonify / Radio Mess |
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NK
CyberTronic
Started Topics :
6
Posts :
206
Posted : Dec 27, 2005 11:34
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hello guys!
as always good job from Fwth & Tony....
i wish all the best for the new year!
my favorites track its: 9!!!
parham and dominic always make good work... keep on groovy guys
about the Let Feel You, its a old track with many elements...! i like it!
just Feel You....
/// Nameless \\\ |
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Nathan
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
301
Posts :
3605
Posted : Dec 27, 2005 13:02
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Ye. good one!
-=The Meaning Of Life Is To Give Life A Meaning= |
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